


nightmares

by romajstorovic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Platonic hance my dudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 20:52:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16145285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romajstorovic/pseuds/romajstorovic
Summary: It's two in the morning. Lance can't sleep. Nightmares stick to him, enveloping him in snares of black memories. He wishes the nightmares would just stop, but after everything he's been through, he doubts it. He leaves a note for his parents and walks along a route he's been familiar with since he was nine, and he's lost in his thoughts as his feet take him to Hunk."Tea?" Hunk asks."Bed," Lance replies.





	nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Created for the voltron rarepair flashbang on Tumblr. I was paired with the wonderful blackkatjinx, and you should go look at their art, because it will make you tear up.

The two had been friends for years. Hunk and Lance, inseparable to the last. Several times they'd had questions from curious individuals as to whether or not they were dating. It made Lance annoyed, but Hunk just found it funny. They were just friends, and that was the way it had always been, and always would be.

The level of trust the two had was something that none of their other friends had quite managed to achieve. They hardly ever kept secrets from each other, but if they did the other always respected their privacy. Lance would keep failed relationships to himself until it got too much to bear, and Hunk was always with him in the aftermath. Similarly, Hunk would keep his misgivings about his love for cooking until Lance stayed up with him. They loved each other in the way that only best friends can. True love, you could say, but without the connotations of romance.

It's two in the morning. Lance can't sleep. Nightmares stick to him, enveloping him in snares of black memories. He wishes the nightmares would just stop, but after everything he's been through, he doubts it.

He leaves a note for his parents, hoping they won't worry but knowing they will, and slips his jacket over his pyjamas. He's too tired to get dressed in outdoor clothes.  He walks along a route he's been familiar with since he was nine, and he's lost in his thoughts as his feet take him to Hunk.

The walk to Hunk's place takes him an hour. When he gets to the door he's almost surprised by how quick the walk seemed. Knocking on the paint-scratched door he lets out a yawn, blinking hazily in exhaustion.

Hunk looks about as good as Lance does. He doesn't question why his best friend arrived at his house at half three in the morning, dressed in pyjamas and a brown jacket. "Tea?" Hunk asks.

"Bed," Lance says. It's a request, and one they both know he doesn't have to make. They've shared a bed before, usually after long days or long battles- or both. Hunk hugs his shaking friend, letting Lance sob quietly against his shoulder. Lance doesn't calm as quickly as he usually does, but the smooth, soft rhythm of Hunk's rocking back and forth eases his terror.

They go to bed, silent in the night. Lance instinctively moves into Hunk's arms, craving the safety that only ever comes in a hug. Hunk is more than willing to oblige, a hand gently winding itself into his hair. Lance is glad for this. Not many friendships are like this, and he's grateful that he was one of the lucky people to have a friend like Hunk.

"Do you believe in soulmates?" Lance finds himself asking.

There's silence, and Lance wonders if Hunk's fallen asleep. "I don't know," Hunk answers, taking his time. "Romance isn't all its hyped up to be, anyway, and I don't think I'll ever find 'The One'. I wondered for a while if it was Shay, but I don't think she is."

"Do you believe in platonic soulmates?"

"I don't know."

"I think you're my platonic soulmate, dude," Lance mumbles. "Like, seriously. Soulmates. That'd be cool."

"Even if we're not, you're still the best friend I could ever ask for."

"Even though I'm useless," Lance mutters. He wishes he hadn't said that. He's got no filter.

"You're not useless," Hunk insists, pulling Lance closer.

"I feel it sometimes. I'm not smart, like Pidge. I can't help you with engineering. No matter how hard I try to learn it the words never stay in my brain. I can't do science like you guys can. I can't fight or lead like Shiro and Keith. I'm not logical like Allura, and I'm not funny like Coran. I feel like a third wheel, you know? Except there's more than three of us. There's..." There's a pause when Lance counts on his fingers. Hunk giggles. "Seven. Is that seven? I'm a seventh wheel. Oh Lord, I'm Leo Valdez but dumb and Cuban."

"You're not dumb," Hunk promises. "Your talents just lie elsewhere. Pidge and I are good at one thing, and that's technology."

"You can cook," Lance points out.

"Food tech," Hunk challenges, laughing quietly. His fingers resume their stroking motion in Lance's hair. "Besides, Jack of all trades and the like."

"What do you mean?"

"'Jack of all trades, master of none; but better a jack than a master of one'. It means it's better to be mediocre at everything than good at one thing and bad at everything else. We all have the same amount of talent. Yours is just spread out more evenly than everyone else's."

Lance registers it as something that he doesn't need to believe, and just something that's supposed to make him feel better without meaning anything. The more he thinks about it, the more comfort he gets from it.

"That's a good way to look at it," Lance decides, and smiles. Hunk smiles too, breathing in deeply.

"Want to talk about your nightmare?" He asks, and Lance tenses. He forces himself to relax, but finds himself tensing up again.

"It wasn't like the others. It's getting worse." Lance burrows even further into his friend's arms, feeling some semblance of protection from his own dreams. It's more than he'd ever get on his own.

"You remember when we were on that planet with the radiation waves? And how we were so close to beating Sendak but we barely even saved the planet?"

"The time I used Dayak's teaching to scare the Galra into behaving? Of course," Hunk laughs.

"Palen bol!" Lance giggles. "Did you know I died?"

"Sorry, you what?"

"Allura was going to be hurt, so I pushed her out of the way and took the hit instead. Good thing I did, because it killed me. I'd rather it be me than her."

"But you're alive." Hunk seems shocked.

"I was only dead for a few minutes, not like-" Not like Shiro. "Anyway, her Altean magic stuff saved me. But the nightmare, it wasn't me that died. It was you and her and all of the others and everyone except me and there was nothing I could do. God, I can't lose you, Hunk."

Hunk wraps Lance ever tighter in his arms, and Lance imagines how terrible life would be without his best friend. How boring it would be. How cold, how lonely, how empty. He needs Hunk more than he realises. Lance needs to change the subject, get the thoughts out of his head.

"Did you know Allura has healing powers?"

"Honestly? You're asking me that after she transferred Shiro's consciousness from Black into the clone? She's an-"

Lance isn't sure why Hunk stopped, but he knows the little gasp Hunk let out means Hunk's just realised something.

"What is it?"

"That makes Allura a USB stick," Hunk snorts. Lance, sleep deprived and at four am, has never heard anything quite as funny.

"That's the best thing I've heard since the Swiss Roll Incident," Lance recalls.

"Oh, no, don't bring that back up."

"'What do I do with my swiss roll now, Lance?' 'Well, you roll it up.' 'Like a swiss ro- oh!'" Lance mimics.

He's feeling a lot better. Hunk's the best friend he could ever wish for. "You sure you're not like, an angel, or something?"

"Fairly sure," Hunk jokes.

"I love you, man."

"I love you too, Lance. G'night."

But Lance is already drifting off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Fancy telling me how it was? Comments/kudos are greatly appreciated <3


End file.
